Specimen analyzing method

ABSTRACT

In keeping with an increase of the size of wafers, etc. used in a fabrication process, a device used for inspection also becomes large, and as a result, more installation space is needed. In addition, due to the increase in the device size, there is a problem that the device becomes expensive and investment in equipment rises. The object of the present investment is to solve these problems. A sample having foreign matter or defects  4  that has already been inspected is divided so as to include a plurality of reference points  3  where positional coordinates can be determined. The divided sample  2  is inspected using a compact inspection device. At this time, the positional coordinates of the foreign matter or defects  4  are calculated from the positional coordinates of reference points  3  on the divided sample  2 , are then inspected.

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for subjecting a subject to be measured to treatment such as observation/analysis/processing using a focused ion beam device, etc., based on position information for the subject to be measured constituted by foreign matter on the surface of a sample or defects such as shape abnormalities measured by a foreign matter/defect inspection device, etc.[JP1]

BACKGROUND ART

[0002] In fabrication such as that for semiconductor integrated circuits, in order to improve production yield as the fabrication process is refined and the degree of integration is improved, it becomes a very important problem to prevent foreign matter from being introduced during a fabrication process.

[0003] For this purpose, in a fabrication process, a controlling wafer referred to as a control wafer/monitor wafer is introduced into a product wafer and the controlling wafer and the product wafer are then inspected using a foreign matter/defect inspection device immediately after each process or process that is important with respect to control. Defects such as the presence of foreign matter or shape abnormalities found by this inspection process are examined and analyzed so as to specify the cause of the introduction/occurrence. In addition, appropriate measures are taken against any causes to improve reliability of the fabrication process.

[0004] Inspection using a foreign matter/defect inspection device is conducted without changing the shape of a sample used for fabrication, because it is also important to learn on which section of the sample a defect is detected.

[0005] A dedicated analyzer/measuring device is used for examining and analyzing defects such as the presence of foreign matter or shape abnormalities. A variety of analyzers/measuring devices including a scanning electron microscope and a focused ion beam device with an EDS (Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy) analysis function are used depending on the application.

[0006] The position of defects such as foreign matter on the surface of a sample or of shape abnormalities on a semiconductor wafer is measured by a foreign matter/defect inspection device. The confirmed foreign matter or defects such as shape abnormalities are examined and analyzed in detail by a measuring device according to the purpose. For this purpose, it is necessary to mount a sample for which positions are measured using the foreign matter/defect inspection device onto a measuring device, and to move the foreign matter or defects such as shape abnormalities, of which position is measured, to positions where observation and analysis by the measuring device is possible. Along with improvement of semiconductor fabrication technologies, since foreign matter or defects to be measured are becoming smaller and smaller and samples such as semiconductor wafers are becoming larger, it is very difficult to specify the position of foreign matter/defects using a foreign matter/defect inspection device. The shape of a sample or a certain shape on the surface of the sample is made to be a mark, positional coordinates of the mark are confirmed using both a foreign matter/defect inspection device and a measuring device, and coordinate linkage for matching positional coordinates of the sample is performed between a plurality of devices. At this time, the same size of samples can be observed and inspected by a sample stage of both the foreign matter/defect inspection device and the measuring device.

[0007] However, since a sample stage of a the foreign matter/defect inspection device or of a measuring device becomes larger as the sample size increase, the entire device becomes larger, causing the footprint of the device to increase. In addition, the device will also become more expensive as it increases in size.

[0008] In particular, when a second device is a focused ion beam device, destructive testing is performed on a surface of a sample using etching processing, etc.. The sample used in testing therefore cannot be returned to the fabrication process. Since the sample is not returned to the fabrication process after such an inspection, the shape of the sample required for a fabrication process does not have to be maintained, and more and more, there is a noticeable need to fully study the necessity of a measuring device for handling large scale samples in terms of cost effectiveness.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

[0009] In order to resolve the aforementioned problems, the present invention sets out to provide a compact measuring device for use in the detailed examination and analysis of a small sample.

[0010] First, a plurality of reference points observable by both a foreign matter/defect inspection device constituting a first device and a measuring device constituting a second device are prepared on the surface of a sample, and the positions of these points are measured by the first device. Next, foreign matter on the surface of the sample or defects such as shape abnormalities are measured by the first device.

[0011] The sample is then divided into a size capable of being mounted on the second device. At this time, a plurality of the reference points, if possible 3 or more, are included on the surface of a divided sample.

[0012] The divided sample is mounted on the second device. The positions of the reference points on the divided sample are confirmed using the second device, and based on these position information, the coordinates of only those on the surface of the divided sample are calculated among the foreign matter or the defects such as shape abnormalities measured by the first device.

[0013] The sample is moved to the calculated coordinates, and the foreign matter or the defects such as shape abnormalities at the coordinates are observed and analyzed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014]FIG. 1 is an explanatory drawing of the present invention.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

[0015] A method for inspecting defects of the present invention will be described in the following with reference to FIG. 1.

[0016] Firstly, the positions of reference points 3 on a sample such as a semiconductor wafer 1 that has passed through a fabrication process is confirmed.

[0017] A typical controlling wafer for a fabrication process (referred to as a control wafer/monitor wafer) is a wafer without specific patterns on the surface of the wafer. In this case, taking into consideration a division method, a mark is created so as to include a plurality of reference points (three or more, if possible) on the divided sample. The shape of the mark is created so as to be capable of observation by either of a foreign matter/defect inspection device constituting a first device, or a measuring device of a second device by providing a step on the surface of the sample. A method to create the step is, for example, carried out by selectively performing etching or deposition onto an arbitrarily shaped area of the surface of the sample. A method for selectively etching on the arbitrarily shaped area includes irradiation with a focused laser beam or ion beam. Further, a method for selectively performing deposition onto the arbitrarily shaped area includes a method for irradiating a focused laser beam or an ion beam in a raw material gas atmosphere. In addition, by scribing on the surface of the sample with a needle etc., scribed marks can be made as reference points.

[0018] When there are characteristic patterns, for example integrated circuit patterns, on the surface of the sample to be inspected, easily observable or confirmable patterns of the integrated circuit patterns can be taken to be reference points.

[0019] Incidentally, the size of the mark may be as large as being visible to the naked eye. At this time, a characteristic shape in the mark is set to a reference point of a coordinate linkage. By making the mark a size visible to the naked eye, the precise coordinates can be confirmed after narrowing down the positional coordinates by the naked eye when confirming the coordinates of the mark using the second device. However, if the shape of the mark is large enough to be visible to the naked eye, specified positioning operations sometimes may not be performed depending on the performance of the second device. Therefore, the size of the mark is optimized according to the performance of the device to be used.

[0020] Additionally, in the division of the sample described later, when the peripheral position of the divided sample can determine a relative position to the position of foreign matter or defects such as shape abnormalities detected by the foreign matter/defect inspection device, the characteristic shape around the periphery of the divided sample can be substituted for a mark, without specifically creating a mark.

[0021] Secondly, the positional coordinates of the reference points 3 at a created or specified mark etc. are measured using the foreign matter/defect inspection device.

[0022] In a third step, the entire sample is inspected or measured using the foreign matter/defect inspection device. As a result, the reference points 3 and the positional coordinates of the detected foreign matter or defects 4 are measured and determined.

[0023] At this time, it is also possible to use a fourth step for creating a mark to encompass of foreign matter or defects 4 that are particularly necessary in analysis using the second device, or for specifying reference points.

[0024] As a fifth step, the sample is divided into pieces, of which size is mountable on the second device. The sample is divided using such as a dicing saw, or a cleavage device.

[0025] It is also possible to perform cleavage manually. At this time, with regard to a divided sample 2, a plurality of the reference points 3, if possible 3 or more, are made to be included on the surface of the sample to be analyzed by the second device.

[0026] As a sixth step, the divided sample 2 is mounted on the second device.

[0027] Then, the positional coordinates of a plurality of the reference points 3 are confirmed using the second device.

[0028] The positional coordinates of the foreign matter or defects 4 detected by the first device are calculated from the positional coordinates of the plurality of the confirmed reference points 3.

[0029] As a seventh step, the foreign matter or the defects such as shape abnormalities 4 of the calculated positional coordinates are observed and analyzed using the second device.

[0030] The described above steps are an embodiment of the present invention. The order of the steps for specifying or creating a plurality of reference points for determining subjects to be measured such as defects detected by the first device and their position information after dividing the sample is by no means limited to the method described in the above embodiment.

[0031] Incidentally, a plurality of characteristic shapes such as marks in one pattern may be taken as a plurality of reference points. Each reference point of the plurality of reference points must then be set to keep a certain positional relationship so as not to be point-symmetrical with respect to fixed points such as vertexes of a regular polygon. In such an arrangement, since the direction of the sample cannot be specified, for example, if a total of four reference points are provided at respective positions of vertexes of a square, the direction of the mounted sample cannot be identified between when the sample is placed after rotating 90 degrees and when the positional coordinates of the reference point or the positional coordinates of the subject to be measured are originally measured. However, the shape of the divided sample is typically a non-regular polygon. In this case, even if the reference points on the surface of the sample have a regular polygonal relationship, selection of a characteristic shape from amongst the sample outlines as a reference in addition to the reference points on the surface of the divided sample means that this does not cause any problem.

[0032] Industrial Applicability

[0033] The present invention provides a device for handling a small sample as a second device for conducting detailed examination and analysis regardless of a size of a sample used in the fabrication process.

[0034] In this manner, the footprint of the device can be kept small. Since the installation and maintenance cost of a clean room as a semiconductor fabrication facility is typically expensive, it is preferable that the installation space of a device installed in the clean room is as narrow as possible. If the method of the present invention is used, an increase in installation space in keeping with an increase of a sample size can be limited. In addition, because a device for handling a small sample is less expensive compared to a device for a large sample, the facility purchase cost can be also restrained. Furthermore, as a result of using this method, there is no need to replace the second device even if the size of a sample used in the fabrication process is changed in the future. 

1. A sample analysis method for analyzing a sample using a second device based on position information on a surface of the sample measured by a first device, comprising the steps of: measuring position information for a plurality of reference points on the surface of the sample using the first device; measuring position information for a subject to be measured on the surface of the sample using the first device or a third device[JP2] capable of sharing usage of the position coordinate information with the first device; creating a small piece of the sample by dividing the sample into a piece with an area including the plurality of reference points; and mounting the small piece of the divided sample onto the second device, measuring the position of the plurality of reference points using the second device, and specifying the position of the subject to be measured by the first device from the position information for the plurality of reference points.
 2. The sample analysis method of claim 1, wherein the first device is a foreign matter/defect inspection device for inspecting foreign matter on the surface of the sample or defects such as shape abnormalities and for measuring the position of the defects on the surface of the sample.
 3. The sample analysis method of claim 1, wherein the second device is a measuring device for handling a small sample, but is incapable of being mounted with the sample inspected and measured by the first device without division of the sample.
 4. The sample analysis method of claim 3, wherein the second device is a focused ion beam device.
 5. The sample analysis method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of the reference points on the surface of the sample depend on patterns formed in advance on the surface of the sample.
 6. The sample analysis method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of the reference points on the surface of the sample are formed by etching or deposition on the surface of the sample.
 7. The sample analysis method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of reference points on the surface of the sample are scribed marks formed by scribing on the surface of the sample.
 8. The sample analysis method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of reference points on the surface of the sample depend on characteristic shapes of a plurality of isolated patterns.
 9. The sample analysis method of claim 1, wherein all or some of the plurality of reference points on the surface of the sample depend on different characteristic shapes in one pattern.
 10. The sample analysis method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of reference points on the surface of the sample are set so as not to be point-symmetrical with respect to a fixed point. 